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<title>Day 16: Dreams by CommonEvilMastermind</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23913619">Day 16: Dreams</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommonEvilMastermind/pseuds/CommonEvilMastermind'>CommonEvilMastermind</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sollavellan Hell Art Challenge 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Kidfic, Solavellan Hell, Solavellanhellartchallenge2020, solavellan hell art challenge 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:55:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23913619</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommonEvilMastermind/pseuds/CommonEvilMastermind</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In ancient Arlathan, a small child makes friends with one of Fen'Harel's Guardians. For Solavellan Hell Art Challenge 2020</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sollavellan Hell Art Challenge 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721170</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Day 16: Dreams</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He remembered the sound of weeping.</p><p>In the wide, green valley of his home, he followed the thread of emotion through the crowds of refugees. Some bowed and some thanked him and some cleared out of his way - this <em>Dread Wolf</em> persona did not have the reputation for being friendly. </p><p>But still, he could feel someone weeping. </p><p>It led him to the edge of his valley, in the lee of a weathered stone, warmed by the sun. Curled up against it, a little stone was crying.</p><p>He looked at it, perplexed, a little.</p><p>Then, silently, he removed his cape and his gauntlet, his boots and his fur, phased out of them with a thought until he was dressed as just another refugee, feet bare in the sun. He sat down by the small, crying stone. "Hello," he said gently.</p><p>The little stone startled, pressing upright against it's larger shelter. It was a small elven child, dressed in a gray tunic - although by proportion, it was more dirt than elf, he would say. It rubbed its red eyes, smearing more dirt around, and said, "'lo," in a muttered return.</p><p>"I heard you crying."</p><p>The child scowled. "'ad a bad dream."</p><p>Fen'Harel nodded. "Bad dreams can be quite distressing. Would you like some water?" He conjured a small cup, although he was unsure if an internal or external application would be more to the point. But the child said quietly, "Ye," and he refilled the clear, tart juice within three times before they were done.</p><p>The god and the child regarded each other a little warily. "What is your name?" Fen'Harel said.</p><p>The child looked deeply suspicious at this unprovoked attack of it's privacy, but glanced towards the juice cup and reconsidered. "Mimi."</p><p>"Mimi." Likely female, then. "And where are your parents, Mimi?"</p><p>The girl-child shrugged. </p><p>"Who is taking care of you?"</p><p>Another shrug.</p><p>"No one?"</p><p>Shrug.</p><p>"Well. My name is Fen'Harel-"</p><p>"Nuh-huh," Mimi said.</p><p>He blinked. "No?"</p><p>She shook her head. "You're not scary. The Dread Wolf is scary."</p><p>He looked around the wide, green, beautiful valley. "Would he be so scary, if he brought you to a place like this?"</p><p>"Ye." This seemed obvious with a very young logic that could not be explained. The sticky little child took a scoot closer to him. "What's YOUR name?"</p><p> "My name is Solas," he said.</p><p>The child - Mimi - scooted a little closer to him, putting a hand on his leg that would no doubt leave a stain. He looked at it doubtfully. "You said you had a bad dream?" </p><p>"Ye." Mimi scowled. </p><p>"Would you like to talk about it?"</p><p>This was considered gravely and accepted. "We was runnin' away from June's big machine and it had teef like this and it went chomp chomp chomp and it ated up Ima and Abba an me."</p><p>"Ah." June, God of the Craft, had outdone himself with that one. It haunted his dreams as well. "Then you and your parents came here from Sheertivan?"</p><p>Mimi scrunched up her face. "No, they didn't come with me, I runned away very fast and then got tooked here and now they gotta come find me."</p><p>He remembered the scorched earth he had left, the wasteland of twisted machinery, June's sickened face, leering. "I hope they do, da'len," he murmured.</p><p>The girl stood straight up, suddenly, like an exclamation point. "Wanna come see somefin?"</p><p>He blinked. "What sort of something?"</p><p>"You gotta comeon, this way, I'll show you." Without waiting for a reply, his small guide took off on her two short, stubby legs. He lurched to his feet, ungraceful, and went after her.</p><p>Out of his armor and furs, he looked little different than any other elf - a little cleaner, perhaps, less scarred and more well-fed. No one made way for him, or bowed to him or recoiled away in fear. It made it harder to follow Mimi through the crowds, but it was... nice. To not wear the title, just be in his own skin.</p><p>Mimi's small footsteps led him to the very edge of the valley where the Guardians sat, watching. They took the form of giant wolves, three times the size of an elf, and their fur was like a shadowy void in the sunlight.</p><p>To his alarm, Mimi ran full-speed towards the nearest of them and threw herself around a leg the approximate width and height of a tree trunk. He swallowed a shout as the huge Guardian looked down with its dozen red eyes, blinking. The little girl offered no threat, but the magic that made the Guardians was a wild one, barely contained. There was no knowing if-</p><p>The guardian leaned down, down, down, and licked the small elf-girl with a blanket-sized tongue. She giggled and shook off the spiritual residue. "This is Dog. He's my friend, see?"</p><p>Solas talked his beating heart down back into his chest. "He's, ah, very large."</p><p>"It's okay, he won't hurt you," Mimi said, matter of fact. "Come 'ere." She ran back to Solas and took his hand by the first two fingers, dragging him over to the guardian. "You gotta pet him real nice. Gotta be gentle."</p><p>"I see." He had never thought to pet a Guardian. The fur was like wisps of cloud and shadow, and his hand sunk in to the elbow. The Guardian - Dog - sniffed him up and down thoroughly, knocking him slightly with a large, cold nose. Mimi giggled and Dog gave a giant wolf-grin. "You're very brave to make such a friend, Mimi," he told his small guide.</p><p>"Yeah," Mimi agreed. "I'm the bravest. I-"</p><p>War horns. The war horns were sounding. </p><p>The Guardian straightened, ears pointing forward like an arrow towards the boundary of the Valley. It leapt away, and Solas cursed the loss of his fur, his armor, his staff - left behind so as not to frighten a childling! Unarmed and unarmored, he picked up Mimi and raced back to the refugees, pushing her into the first set of hands he found. Ignoring her cries, "Solas! Solas! Dog!" he phased away to the fighting.</p><p>June's machines had found them. They were twisted monstrosities of creation, bodies fused with machine and magic. Corrupted. In his memory, he had fought them back with the help of the Guardians. In his memory, he had saved the refugees.</p><p>But this time, his Guardians fell like stone towers, cut down by blades of skin and wet bone. The soft green plants withered and died; he could taste the ashes in his mouth, smell flesh burning. </p><p>This did not happen. This was a nightmare. It was only a dream.</p><p>He knew about dreaming.</p><p>He wrenched himself out of it, out of the twisted memory of that place. His body was sweat-soaked in the chilly night air. </p><p>A foot away, Varric lay snoring peacefully.</p><p>Her name - Mimi. He had forgotten. </p><p>The man who no longer called himself Fen'Harel rose from his bed. It would be many hours before he would find sleep again.</p>
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